The sword of souls
by EchoZane
Summary: When EchoZane strikes Jay, his body and soul enters the void, but will he come back from it whole? Short fic, not an altered time line but follows the events of Skybound. *Kai/Cole/Jay/Lloyd/Zane/Nya/Clousey clouse. Jaya sorta if you blink. Maybe two more chappies and that's all folks.
1. Chapter 1

All he could see was green, everywhere, all he felt was the pull of sleep. The feeling was simlar to participating in a long distance run coupled with staying up all night. All he wanted was to curl up in his bed and sleep for Ninjago. But he still had a task to do, Nya depended on it, countless other lives would depend on it too. The idea of a djinn with infinite wishes was something he didn't want to dwell on, so on he swam, pushing himself further into the magical void he had just found himself in.

Behind him was a bright portal, the way back, his only chance of getting out of here was dwindling by the minute. So with added vigour he carried on, haphazardly flailing his arms and legs to rapidly steady his descent. It became more of a swim stroke, almost like a dream state swim.

The lone weary ninja was still swimming through the green gloomy darkness, even as his eyelids became heavy with exhaustion, even when he thought about her taking _his_ hand in marriage, the silky voiced seducer had done just that, he had taken her as his own and it wasn't for love.

 _Infinite wishes, he'll be unstoppable_ was the first thing that Cole uttered as they were locked in the brig, both leaders feeling somewhat sheepish at being caught trying to perform a rescue.

 _I just hope Nya is fearing better..._

* * *

His strength and determination was still shining through, on he swam, tiredness eating away at him second by second.

Then he saw one, in the distance shimmering and surrounded by green gems. Kai, he was sleeping in a dreamlike trance. He shook him vigorously and called his name, he instantly realised his vojce was distorted. "Kai, Kai wake up." Next was Zane, Whilst Kai swam to wake his ghostly brother. One by one they were all found, his brothers in arms, their sensei, Misako. Everyone was accounted for and they swam like their lives depended on it.

But, even around him there were so many others...too many to wake or rescue. The poor unfortunate souls who had been trapped by Khanjikhan the Djinn king before he passed the blade to his son.

'Maybe, just maybe they are better off in here than out there.' He thought to himself and noted their choice of clothing. It was all out of time, even their hair looked wrong.

That beacon of light was his guiding force, his and their salvation. It was the light at end of this sleepy tunnel of torment. The prison within the sword.

Suddenly from out of nowhere, a hand grabbed at his ankle. A look of realisation dawned on him and his eyes widened. He kicked without looking, a sense of panic ensuing once he noticed his captor.

'Clouse, I should have known.'

But it was too late, the sick and twisted Mage had grabbed both his ankles.

"You are not going anywhere!" Was all he uttered as he dragged the blue ninja back into the depths of the void.

"H-how are you awake?" Jay struggled to stifle a yawn, the crystals slowly attaching.

"I have my ways, ninja. Spells, enchantments more than you could ever comprehend. But fear not, they'll come back for you and when they do we'll be ready for them."

"What do you mean we?" He mumbled incoherently, his eyes closing against his will.

"A wise magician never reveals his secrets, just sleep, dream of what you wish." His lips curling into a sick smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Clouse, in his infinite wisdom had a most terrible plan for the djinn who had so ruthlessly trapped him here. And because of his powers of magic and the dark arts, he had cast a charm on himself to prevent the etermal slumber that had claimed the multitude surrounding him.

Clouse with his quick thinking, had remained awake in the void. Somehow it hadn't affected him like the others. Yes, he had been sleeping to a certain extent, they all had. But his 'nap like' slumber had been disturbed in more ways than one.

Now Clouse had a plan, and more than that, he also had a vessel. A slim blue, tall and incredibly annoying vessel with whom to use that last wish.

He closed his eyes but he wasn't sleeping. He held firm onto the sleeping blue one and spoke word after word into his ear. The ninja he grasped so tightly was writhing but he wasn't in pain, at least he wouldn't be until the charm was complete

The final words he spoke caused the blue ninja to shudder in his firm unrelenting grasp. The ghostly apparition merely sneered in derision and then suddenly smiled, his relief now apparent.

The soul of the blue one came from within his own body, flitting around himself like a lighting bug. Clouse could hear it, he could hear everything. The angered roars coming from the tiny floating light dancing angrily around the Mage.

He reached within his outer garments and retrieved a small length of leather with a tiny blue stone attached. It didn't look particularly important but he held it aloft and the bright dancing light was instantly attracted to it, like a moth to a flame.

The length of leather was tied and cast around his wrist, now the angered roars were little more than mild vibrations. Once the small stone touched his apparition, his soul transferred into the only soulless being in the vicinity.

And just in time too, a brother had returned for him.


	3. Chapter 3

The strongest brother, had been sent, he looked anxious and sorry.

The black clad ninja was apprehensive, and for good reason. Cole swam with strong strokes, a look of pure determination set on his chiselled face. His brother in blue was easy to identify in the mass of green.

He was just floating there, living yet not existing, alive but subdued, unfettered but imprisoned.

Something that was incredibly familiar to Cole, trapped in his second to last wish, forced to remain in his greed indefinitely. For Cole it was pure pain, slow agonising pain, his body changing into a human rather than his ghost form was, according to Nadakhan, a very painful experience.

Kai hadn't mentioned his second to last wish because his was horrifying and involved mindless fan girls.

* * *

Again, he too felt the pull of slumber, nagging at him, but this time they would succeed, this time they had the only one who could use his last wish. Time was of the essence, the hut was surrounded. The might of the the ninja were fighting arm in arm with allies that didn't always see eye to eye.

Ronin was only in it because he likely had something to lose. Soto, he only wanted revenge and thought that one pirate crew was enough for any realm. Darreth was doing it for the fame it would bring. Echo Zane, he had just been asked but lacked any real skill. Skylor was doing it because she fancied a bit of action, running the noodle house was a hard and often laborious task.

* * *

Cole swam to Jay as fast as he could, his stony yet determined face was focused on the blue sleeping ninja. He got to him quickly, it wasn't like before, there were no others to wake. "Jay! Jay wake up, wake up...JAY!"

He woke with a start, his eyes flashed red for a brief second.

"Wh-what, don't shout at me." Was all he said with a bleary eyed stare, he rubbed his eyes and felt his body being pulled.

Cole did a tired double take, Jay's voice seemed sharp and derisive in tone. But time was of the essence, Cole grabbed at Jay and began to drag him toward the light, the portal, their salvation and Clouse's freedom.


	4. Chapter 4

Every one crowded around the blue ninja, he seemed to be having difficulty fighting. At one point two pirates had knocked him clear off his feet. Cole thought it was tiredness, he had just been asleep in the void of enchantment within the sword of souls.

Jay scowled, his eyes had narrowed considerably. "Honestly, I'm fine, you should be more concerned with your own foes." He hissed defiantly and pulled out of Kai's grasp. The master of fire, stood mouth agape at the unexpected outburst but had no time for a good comeback as he had enemies to subdue. Jay had quickly scrambled away and out of eyesight.

Soto was using his watering can with little to no effect, the plastic container barely made a mark on the ones he fought. If anything, it was more annoying than painful.

Yet they were all fighting valiantly with what they had, surely they wouldn't miss him if he just slipped off for a while, the sly ninja thought. An evil smirk adorned his face and he cast a spell. The curse hit two pirates, both fell to the floor and writhed in agony.

The possessed ninja was aware of the noises both downed pirates were making, he didn't want anyone else to notice. It was unlikely that they would considering he couldn't hear his own thoughts but he couldn't be too safe.

Was he ruthless, did he kill them?

Of course he did, he picked his golden katana from his sheath on his back and quickly but quietly plunged both the golden lengths of metal. He withdrew the blades with a sick and twisted grin. He hid them before any could see the blood soaked metal. It seemed that the foes that had already been felled by others, were merely groaning and weakly attempting to rise back up and into the foray.

Clouse wondered why the enemies were allowed to live, if he ruled, the enemies who dared to oppose him would be killed, there would be no subduing, only follow or die.

'If I ruled, hmm...if I ruled. Yes of course, I remember the mere mention that this body has one more wish. This one wish is all I need, so many things to choose though!'

Jay looked around him, every where he turned he could see fights. Cole and Kai back to back. Lloyd using his energy pulse, Nya was using her blades, she was fully focused on her targets. It seemed every one was busy, maybe too occupied to notice a solitary blue ninja who discreetly rolled off the floating island onto a raid zeppelin as it passed below.

More pirates came running to help their fallen crewmen whilst Clouse used the agility of the body he was using. An awkward landing from the air filled zeppelin caused an odd feeling to surface, Clouse gasped. It had been so long since he had felt a broken bone, the last time he had, he was a child.

His hand rapidly shot down to his lower leg and he hissed to himself, cursing at the body he inhabited. The bracelet charm vibrated gently, a soothing feeling that to Clouse meant that the ninja could feel the pain too.

He stumbled into a fighting stance and used a blast of sorcery to subdue the pirate who was steering the vessel. He didn't even see it coming, he just flopped over the steering wheel causing the sudden shift of the zeppelin to veer off course.

Clouse in Jay's skin suit, quickly pushed the body off the control panels and took back control of the zeppelin. He eventually found an area with no pirate activity, no zeppelins or flying ships just a multitude of floating islands above.

He took the spare time to strip the pirate of his clothes, a simple spell made the pirate dress in a blue ninja gi and Clouse was fully attired in authentic pirate dress. A hideous scarf adorned his head, he repositioned it to cover his scarred eyebrow.

"Yes, now you see this is much better, the body I use can infiltrate without being caught and I can be close enough for him to hear my last wish... but what to wish for."

"The pain of being turned mortal was unbearable, my second wish was duped and manipulated, the spell book he burnt, but I could ask to be made all powerful, that would work well, I could take him on as an equal and fight his magic with my own."


	5. Chapter 5

It seemed too easy to just blend into the role of pirate, being as there were so many pirates aboard the Misfortunes Keep. The pirate captain of said ship was no where to be found, his main hierarchy were all surrounding him in the temple he was utilising as a makeshift wedding chapel.

It was no ordinary chapel though, this was technically Sensei Yang's temple of Airjitzu, a sacred place, meant for the ones who had wanted to learn how to further their skills as ninja. In the eyes of the citizens of Ninjago, the temple was sacrosanct. It was not meant to be decked out for a wedding for a bunch of plundering and pillaging pirates.

But the pirates didn't care about that or about the trouble and strife that they had caused on terra firma below, because they were blind to their captain. The captain of the Misfortunes Keep, the one who knew he would be getting infinite wishes as soon as he married on what was Djinn land.

* * *

Dogshank, who stood impossibly tall was actually quite the romantic, it was the only feminine part of her that remained, the rest of her was just pure hideous beauty, an oxymoron.

Cyren, never really spoke, but she sang well. A little too well in fact, her voice could send any to sleep or death depending on what they were doing at the time. Both female pirates had made the bridal suite look a little less intimidating, all they did was scatter petals on Nadakhan's bed. His bladed weapons were picked up and hung back on the racks. As a captain, Nadakhan favoured all of his weapons, even the ones he rarely used anymore. They all stood pride of place in a metal mesh fronted cabinet.

A traditional cat o nine tails, various others including things for flogging. Weapons rarely used because mutiny hadn't been on the cards for many a year. Cyren grabbed Nadakhan's jewelled scimitar, and polished it in preparation for the ceremony, whilst Dogshank straightened the bedding.

Candles were placed but they wouldn't be lit until after the event and during the consummation of said ceremony.

Once they had finished their own rituals they then moved onto helping the bride of Nadakhan to dress into her bridal gown. They had both expected her to put up more of a fight but it seemed, that she was cooperating for once and Dogshank was a little disappointed.

* * *

Most of what Nadakhan and his rowdy rabble of pirates had called 'landlubbers,' were scrubbing the deck, not that the deck was dirty. Jay had been cleaning it for days before he had escaped, but now it fell on the hands of the newest recruits, and there were quite a few.

Clouse, in his disguise, limped from floating island to island. He was looking for the temple and Nadakhan whom he knew would be there waiting. His lesser known crew were still keeping the ninja from ruining the ceremony that was about to take place.

On his travels from island to island, he had found a few broken planks around the edge of the temple. He fashioned them into splints to support the broken bones he could feel in his lower leg.

He had seriously thought about cutting the leg off at the knee to look the part of an authentic pirate but decided that the pain and healing would likely hinder him further. And the longer he was within the vicinity of Nadakhan, the more likelihood he would have of being caught, so the idea was knocked on the head, the pain would just have to be put up with. At least the pillaged wine and cider aboard, had kept the edge off the pain.

But this time he had a plan, this time he would be able to think about a wish without being forced to choose quickly. His previous three had been poorly thought out, but he was manipulated into making the wrong decisions and Nadakhan the Djinn had taken advantage.

He ripped some of the clothing from his healthy leg and hastily covered the now exposed bone. Outwardly cursing at the weaker ninja he had chosen, but shaking his head because he knew that the body he was using still had one wish left.

He had never possessed a body before, but the feeling was exhilarating. The pain and tiredness was an issue though, and he knew from experience, the signs of infection, sweating, shivers, a headache and a radiating pain that started at his leg and spread upwards The body, the vessel he used was weakening. The brief glimpse of his reflection gave him the appearance of a green tinge, but only to his eyes and mouth. The vessel was dying without the soul and his window of opportunity was failing. It was now or never, and so he walked in, as best he could and stood as close to the Djinn without being noticed.

* * *

A commotion could be heard coming from outside the temple. It would appear that the ninja had been successful in subduing the pirates but the door had been boarded up in preparation for their arrival.

Nya had been brought into the makeshift chapel via a secured door that was surrounded by the majority of surviving crew, their main task was to protect all doors until the ceremony was complete and both members of the wedding party had said 'I do.'

Clouse sat his tired skin suit down and stretched out the damaged leg, but Nadakhan barked an order at him to keep the noise down. He ordered him to fight and so, to avoid being caught infiltrating, he did as he was told.


	6. Chapter 6

Clouse sat his tired skin suit down and stretched out the damaged leg, but Nadakhan barked an order at him to keep the noise down. He ordered him to fight and so, to avoid being caught infiltrating, he did as he was told.

* * *

"Keep them out of here!" Nadakhan barked, his deep gravelly voice echoing around the room.

"Yes, cap'n" came an eager response behind Clouse.

"On it cap'n"

Clouse carefully raised himself and followed the gaggle of pirates who grabbed at their curved swords. Clouse grabbed at his but stood behind everyone else.

He was ready to strike and only when unexpected, ready to deliver a fatal blow to any of the ninja in his midst.

Once the doors had been opened, a few remained in the chapel with Nadakhan and Nya, Clancee was still performing the ceremony, Dogshank was swooning at the the vows and general romance of the day. Clouse could have been certain he saw a slither of feeling and emotion in the giant mutated version of a woman they all called Dogshank.

"So romantic..." She had muttered with her hands joined next to her face, her eyes looked like saucers.

His mind pulled back to the present, Some of his pirate team had fallen, they weren't dead, apparently the ninja didn't kill. Clouse did, why wouldn't he? He was led by Master Chen, his sensei back then, and then Garmadon joined and between all three of them, they were ruthless and cruel. They spared no mercy to any foes...at all because they had an agenda.

"Hai ya!" Cole yelled and sliced through the air.

"We need Jay, he's the only one with one wish left...!" Kai yelled from his position near the main double doors.

"He's the only one that just scarpered ya mean!" Cole hissed in annoyance.

"We'll have to worry about that later, we need to get into that chapel and fast." Lloyd had replied

"Maybe that is where he is Kai! He did not divulge the reason for his swift exit." Zane spoke calmly.

Cole swiped through the air and Clouse dodged the trajectory of his katana, he stepped to the side but misjudged his splinted broken leg and he stumbled as Cole took another sideways glance with his blade.

Lucky for Clouse the blade only scraped his skin, leaving a fine eight inch slice from elbow to wrist. He didn't realise, until it was too late that the leather bound charm had been cut.

The blue stone glass gem fell slowly from his wrist, Clouse still hadn't noticed that the bound leather string had been cut. His pain receptors were almost numb to the pain of the body he was using as a meat bag.

The blue stone fell, spiralling to the floor in slow motion amidst the chaos of the fight. It fell and landed on the floor, but it didn't smash. It was perfectly intact for a few short seconds, vibrating on the floor gently, a the lifeline of the one trapped within it. It was still whole and perfect, until Cole trod on it.

Suddenly all that could be seen was a 'real bright light!'

A mad scrambling light burst forth from it, startling all who were in the vicinity. First appearances, it looked like a fire fly or a lightning bug, quite appropriate really when you consider whose soul it was.

Clouse stared at it wide eyed and panic stricken, Cole swiped at it with his blade and is passed right through.

The fast buzzing blue light didn't appreciate that particular sentiment, but it didn't hang around for a second attempt. The blue light had gone just as soon as it was seen. It quickly went into the only soulless form it could find. Back into his own body that was being controlled by the entity known as Clouse. The ghost who obviously still had unfinished business.


End file.
